..续本文上一页s. People ask me, “Can I attain stream-entry

　　 Are there any arahants

　　” because we still think of stream entry and arahantship as a personal quality, don”t we

　　 We look at somebody and say, “That monk over there is an arahant!” We think that person is an arahant or stream-enterer. That”s just the way the conditioned mind operates. It can”t help it. It can”t do anything other than that. You can”t trust it. You can”t take refuge in your thoughts or your perceptions. You can only take refuge in awareness. Of course, awareness doesn”t seem like anything, it”s seems like nothing – but it”s everything. All the problems are resolved right there. Your conditioned mind thinks, “Awareness is nothing; it doesn”t amount to anything. It”s not worth anything. You couldn”t sell it!” This is the point at which we learn to trust in the ability to awaken, because if we think about it, we”ll start doubting it all the time: “Am I really awake

　　 Am I awake enough

　　 Maybe I need to be asleep longer so that I can be awake later on. Maybe if I keep practicing with ignorance I”ll get so fed up that I”ll give it up.” If you start with ignorance, how could you ever end up with wisdom

　　 That doesn”t make any sense. It”s like hitting your head against a wall – after a while you might give it up if you haven”t damaged your brain. It does feel good when you stop, doesn”t it

　　Instead of looking at it in that way, trust in the simple act of attention. Then explore and have confidence in your ability to use wisdom. Many of you may think, “Oh, I don”t have any wisdom. I”m nobody. I haven”t had any real insight.” You convince

　　yourself you can”t do this. On the personal level, maybe you don”t feel you have anything to offer, but that”s simply another creation. That”s the same as saying, “I am an unenlightened person.” Whatever you think you are – whether the best or the worst – it”s still a creation.

　　Whatever assumptions you have about yourself, no matter how reasonable they might be, they are still a creation in the present. By believing in them, by thinking and holding to them, you”re continually creating yourself as a personality. Awakeness is not a creation. It”s the immanent act of attention in the present. That is why deliberately thinking “I am an unenlightened person” is just a skillful means to notice more carefully and continuously what it”s like to be mindful, to have pure awareness at the same time as you are creating yourself as a person. You get the sense that your self-view is a mental object, something that comes and goes. You can”t sustain “I am an unenlightened person.” How do you sustain that

　　 By thinking it all the time

　　 If you went around saying “I am an unenlightened person” all the time, they would send you to a mental hospital. It arises and ceases, but the awareness is sustainable. The awareness is not created, it is not personal, but it is real.

　　We can also recognize the ending. When “I am an unenlightened person who has got to practice meditation in order to become an enlightened person some time in the future” stops, there is ringing silence, awareness. Conditions always arise and cease now, in the present. The cessation is now. The ending of the condition is now. The end of the world is now. The end of self is now. The end of suffering is now. You can see the arising, “I am…,” then the ending. And what remains when something has begun and ended is awareness. It”s like this. It”s bright. It”s clear. It”s pure. It”s alive. It”s not like a trance. It”s not dull. It”s not stupid.

　　This is just an encouragement – an “empowerment,” according to modern jargon. Do it! Go for it! Don”t just hang around on the edges thinking, “I am an unenlightened person who has to practice really hard in order to become an enlightened person,” and then after a whil…

《The Problem with Personality》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…